Up until yesterday I'd never had that perfect Pasayten trip (
snow in May,
snow in June,
record-setting heat in June,
downpour in October, etc.). I remember planning the trip with Graham and Paul in 2014 and Graham remarking, "It's the Pasayten...something always happens."
With those experiences in mind, I planned to backpack out to
Sheep Mountain and then stay in Whistler Basin, hiking out the following morning. I figured there would be hundreds of blowdowns and the other usual issues that create longer-than-planned trips. Unfortunately, things went a little too well and I summited Sheep in 6:35 from the car, arriving in Whistler Basin just before 5pm. With five hours of daylight left I had no idea what to do, so I just hiked out, finishing at 9:45pm, about two minutes shy of needing my headlamp.
After being gone all last weekend, a certain kiddo was very happy to have me home earlier than planned.
Hiking 40 miles with a full backpacking set up that went unused felt pretty lame, but the day was truly amazing and I think this is my new favorite area in the Pasayten...
- Billy Goat trail: cleared to Drake Creek.
- Larch Creek - Larch Pass: one large microburst of trees passable off trail; ~100 (?) blowdowns w/the majority being step overs, some crawl unders and climb overs.
- Northern trails (McCall Gulch, Whistler Basin, Peeve Pass): some patchy snow though none present any real difficulties; everything in great shape and very lush.
Shout out to Gary and Otto; it was very nice chatting with you and I hope you had a good time on the rest of your trip!
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| Training weight...ugh... |
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| Weekly dose of Wilderness |
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| Many Trails Peak over Diamond Creek and Lost River |
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| Go high for the first group and low for the second, which is a quite big grouping |
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| Larch Creek drainage with Larch Pass |
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| East Fork Pasayten River drainage; beetle kill? |
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| McCall Gulch basin with Two Point Mountain |
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| The northern Pasayten is in bloom |
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| Corral Lake |
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| First full view of Sheep Mountain, from above the Timber Wolf Creek drainage |
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| Looking back toward the pass above McCall Gulch (where the previous photo was taken from) |
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| South slopes of Sheep Mountain in bloom |
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| South side of Sheep Mountain, from 7300' |
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| Buck and doe on Sheep Mountain |
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| Two bucks on Sheep Mountain |
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| Upper slopes of Sheep Mountain, ~200' of easy talus |
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| Looking east from Sheep Mountain: Cathedral Peak and Pass, Amphitheater Mountain, Windy Peak, Remmel Mountain |
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| South (left) to west, from Sheep Mountain |
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| Ramon Lakes on the north side of Sheep Mountain |
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| Jack Mountain (r), Ptarmigan Peak (l) |
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| Sheep Lake and the eastern Pasayten |
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| Bear tracks at Peeve Pass |
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| Sand Ridge, dividing Timber Wolf Creek and Mayo / Whistler Creek drainages |
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| Whistler Basin |
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| Whistler Basin and Ashnola Mountain |
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| Trail to Whistler Pass |
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| Glacier Lily |
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| Whistler Basin |
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| McCall Gulch basin, Larch Pass from Whistler Pass |
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| Looking back at Whistler Pass over McCall Gulch |
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| Setting sun from Billy Goat Pass, looking north |
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| Just about back to the car; looking south from the Billy Goat Pass trail |
Good job, Luke. I think I did a 90km loop here last year
ReplyDeleteLooks great! Any significant creek crossings?
ReplyDeleteHey Bryan, not anything significant. Couple ones to rock hop or use a log and I think one that required half rock hopping and half ankle deep water, but that's it!
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